Tales of Melody Tales of the Abyss 2
by Jadegang
Summary: This story is about what could have happened years after Tales of the Abyss ended. Dist seems to have broken out of prison and now is doing what he can do best: Getting on everyone s nerves! Pairings: Luke & Tear, Guy & Natalia, Anise & Florian
1. Chapter 1: A not so formal audience

_**Chapter 1: A not so formal audience**_

"ND. 2000: In Kimlasca shall be born one who inherits the power of Lorelei. He will be a boy of royal blood, with hair of red. He shall be called "The Light of the Sacred Flame", and he will lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new unprecedented prosperity.  
ND. 2002: The "One who would seize Glory" shall destroy the island upon which he was born, a land by the name of Hod. War shall thereafter persist between Kimlasca and Malkuth for a full cycle of the seasons.  
ND. 2018: The scion of Lorelei´s power shall recreate the whole world and destroy the evil theatening it, releasing his brethren into its eternal freedom."

A younger woman with dark hair which ended into two plaits looked down to the little boy with golden blond hair who had listened to her story attentively. "So you see, it´s thanks to the `Scion of Lorelei´ that you even exist, Kamui.", she said while he fixed her with blue eyes, hungry for more knowledge. The two sat in a huge room full of toys and a big canopy.

"That´s sooo cool!", the little boy named Kamui said, thrilled, and his grin seemed to almost split his face in two. "And the Score really doesn´t exist anymore, auntie Anise?"

"Well... It actually still exists, but the people don´t need it anymore, Kamui.", the woman named Anise Tatlin said. "And it´s not `auntie´ Anise, just `Anise´. This `auntie´ stuff makes me look old."

"Okay, aun... um... Anise."

"Are telling the little one lies again?", an amused voice suddenly said, when at the next moment a man with long red hair entered the room.

"Uncle Luke!", Kamui shouted excitedly, jumped up from the bad and stormed towards the man named Luke fone Fabre.

"When did you arive?", Luke asked Anise.

"About a few hours ago.", she answered.

"And the first thing two do is telling Kamui stupid things?", Luke asked and grinned.

"Well, this certain naivety runs in the family, after all.", Anise teased.

"Hey!", Luke shouted with mock indignation while Kamui was laughing.  
"But, fun aside... No, of course that´s not my concern.", Anise said. "I actually wanted to talk with her Highness about the new abatement of tax, but before I could do so, this little pest here had already captured and abducted me." She looked at Kamui who only blew her a raspberry.

"Don´t let your mother see that.", Luke said. "She would bite your head off if you did that in her presence."

"Hmhm...", Kamui looked bemused. "And daddy´s head as well, since it´s his fault that I grew to be like this?"

"Who´s going to do what with my head?", a man with blond hair who had just now entered the room and now stood next to Luke asked.

"Well, it has golden hair, reigns over the whole Kimlascan kingdom, can be really scary if she wants to, and is accidentally married to you.", Luke said, grinning.

"Luke!", the blond man shouted angered. "If Natalia hears THAT, she´ll..."

"She´ll bite MY head off instead of YOURS, right, Guy?", Luke laughed.

The blond man named Guy just sighed and let his eyes wander through his son Kamui´s room, spotting Anise. "Oh, there you are, Fon Master!"

"GUY!!!", Anise shrieked immediately, jumped from the bed, hairs suddenly standing high in the air like an angry cat´s tail. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?! YOU AS ONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE TO CALL ME BY MY NAME!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW HORRIBLE IS TO HEAR `FON MASTER ANISE THIS´ AND `FON MASTER ANISE THAT´ THE WHOLE DAY!?! DO YOU WANT A WAR BETWEEN DAATH AND KIMLASCA, HUH!?!" With every word she advanced a bit towards Guy who backed off, whining, and looked like he would never say a word in his whole life again. "Oh man...", Anise finally sighed, looking down at Guy who had positioned Luke as a defence in front of him, now cowering on the floor. "What a king! When will you finally be able to defeat that damn phobia!?" She looked at Kamui. "It´s a wonder that this little pest here actually exists!"

Kamui glared at her and asked his father: "Daddy, am I going to get grounded, if I kick Daath´s leader?" He didn´t get an answer, only a whine from his father.

"Well, I think THEN Natalia wil really bite your father´s head off.", Luke said and helped Guy, still unsteady on his legs, up from the floor. "Are you feeling all right again, your... hem, hem... `Majesty´?" Guy just glared at him and sighed.

"I just don´t know how to control that...", he said. "The only woman in whose present it doesn´t happen is Natalia."

"Well, then it´s a good thing that I left my Fon Master Guardian at home. One scary woman fewer.", Anise chuckled.

"Tear isn´t in Baticul?", Luke asked casually.

"No. Why? Should I have her come with me?", Anise asked in return and looked at the red head with a knowing smirk.

"Um... well... you see... I-I... not that I... um...", Luke stammered and blushed crimson-red.

"Tche! I may be the one to be afraid of women, but I still have a wife!", Guy said and shook his head.

"Honestly!", Anise sighed.

"Is Tear that woman that uncle Luke always stares at as if he wants to devour her?", Kamui asked.

"HEY!!! Don´t talk about me like I´m not in this room!!!", Luke snapped.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered...", Guy said and looked at Anise. "I was looking for you when I heard Luke and Kamui talking inside here."

"Yes yes, I know, the new abatement of tax is calling.", Anise said. "But as I have already told Luke, this little pest here..."She lay a hand on the head of one grumbling Kamui. "... had immediately abducted me when I entered the castle. He was dieing to here the story of the score and the brave `Scion of Lorelei´ from me again."

"Yes, that guy is sooo cool!", Kamui said, thrilled, while Luke looked to the side in embarrassment and Guy was looking totally jealous.

"Well, no, that´s not what this is about.", the blond eventually said. "No, wait... it´s about that, too, of course. What I´m trying to say is that you can take your time with that talk. It´s rather that Florian is worrying about you."

Anise sighed. "Oh man! I only leave him alone for two seconds and he is practically pissing his pants with fear!", she snarled. "You should have seen what had happened in Daath when I had left the cathedrale without telling him. About 10 minutes later he had summoned the whole Oracle Knights brigade and had them searching the city for me!"

"You have to understand, Anise. Since his birth, Florian only knows tragedies, pain and loss.", Guy tried to explain.

"I know...", Anise said and sighed again. "But someday he has to learn that I´m not just going to leave like that. And I´m not going to let him leave either. Not like... Ion..."

"Anise...", Luke began, sad.

"No, it´s all right.", Anise said. "I know I can´t take back what´s happened and I won´t try to find excuses for my mistakes. Always look towards the fuure, right?"

"Jap!", Kamui said and nodded. Guy looked at him with disdain. "What´s up?"

Guy sighed. "I give up. Only a few minutes alone with Anise and Luke and all that formal talk that Pere has taught is gone.", he said and hung his head low.

"Should I tell the maids in advance to prepair sleeping berth for you on the couch?", Luke asked, trying hard not to laugh while Guy fixed him with a deathglare.

"Well then, shall we stop our not so formal auience and go outside of this room into the painfully formal reality?", Anise asked with mock earnest in her voice.

"With pleasure.", Luke said, opened the door and said: "Ladies first, dear!"

"But no! Please, you go first!", Anise said.

"No, you, please!", Luke said. "I insist on it!"

"Well, if you insist...", Anise said. "But are you sure that you..."

"Man! Just do it!", Guy snarled, annoyed. Throwing a laughing fit, Luke and Anise left the room, followed by an annoyed Guy and Kamui, to the halls of the palace where they were eagerly awaited by her royal majesty Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Gardios and Florian inside the throne room.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Unexpected visit**_

It was in a room that was as dark as the night. A figure, clothed in a black cloak which even masked his face, at before a strange machine.

"I wonder how much more time there is...?", the figure murmured, entirely absorbed by the presence of the machine. "The Score is like a drug, the end inevitable..." Another person entered the room without a noise, walking slowly towards the one before the machine as to not make him take notice of the intruder. "I´ve already been expecting you.", the person before the machine said and made the intruder flinch. "Did _she_ send you?"

"What are you talking about?", the intruder asked.

"There is no use faining ignorance.", the person wearing the cloak said and looked at the intruder, also wearing a cloak. "Do you really think you can kill me?"

"We´ll see...", the intruder said and suddenly advanced towards the other one, lightning-fast.

Richly adorned walls with portraits, busts, tapestries, and thousands of long, long hallways which led into dozens of different directions: This was the castle of Kimlasca in short.

"No matter how often I come here, I always get lost in here.", Anise said while following the other three through the hallways. "I already thought I was lost forever when this little pest here had grabbed me and dragged me with him." Kamui shot a dark look at her which wished her her a long and painful death. "Anyway, did you hear already?", Anise continued. "Dist the Reaper has broken out of prison again."

"Don´t you mean Dist `the Rose´?", Luke asked, snickering.

"I just hope he doesn´t cause trouble again and gets on our nerves.", Guy sighed.

"Oh, I wouldn´t worry...", Anise said. "The Colonel has already been ordered to search for him. If anyone has to worry, it´s Dist."

"He should be _especially_ worried about his as...", Luke wanted to say, but was silenced by a loud "Luke!" from Guy who nodded towards Kamui.

Outside at the outer wall of the castle clung a person clothed in a dark cloak, their face veiled by a mask, and held a strange little gadget in his hands.

"Just a little more, then the fun begins...", the person said and laughed in malice.

"Did you hear something?", one of the guards who were patrolling around the castle asked another guard while looking around.

"Did I hear what?", the other one asked.

"I dunno. It sounded as if someone... Ah, it´s nothing... I think..."

"Anise!!!", was the first thing that greated Luke and the others as they entered the throne room. The next thing they saw was something white-greenish which stormed towards them, and at the moment Anise´s hands were full of one loudly crying Florian.

"It´s all right! It´s all right already!", Anise said and tried to calm Florian by petting his head. "STOP IT!!!", she eventually screamed when he didn´t obey.

"Fon Master Anise, it´s an honor to be able to see you in Kimlasca again!", she was greeted by a woman with golden hair - Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Gardios - who sat on the other side of the throne room on the throne and was watching with mirth the events unfolding before her eyes.

"I´m honored as well.", Anise said, smiling, and finally kicked Florian´s behind so he would finally stop his cryig concert.

"Though you didn´t tell me that your Fon Master Guardian would be accompanying you on your journey."

"Excuse me?!?", Anise asked, now having finally reached the throne together with the other, confused, and only now noticed that the doors to the throne room had been opened again and Tear Grants had entered the room.

"T-Tear...!", Luke stammered, gaze suddenly totally dreamy. Beside him Kamui was making noises as if he was going to vomit because of Luke´s hopeless love life, but was immediately silenced by a glare of his father.

"Tear, what are you doing here?!", Anise asked, confused. Tear didn´t answer but just went towards the others in front of the throne. "Tear?"; Anise tried again. Tear finally looked at her. "I thought you had a date in Daath?"

"A... A date?!?", Luke repeated, eyes as huge as saucers.

"That´s none of your concern.", Tear said while fixing Luke with and icy glare. The red head looked as if the end of the world was near.

"So we´re nearly complete.", Natalia happily said and stood up from her throne.

"In what way?", Guy asked, slightly confused.

"Well, there´s only Colonel Curtiss missing, then the old companions would be complete.", Natalia explained. "It´s been a long time since we´ve been together like this. Two years to be exact, if I´m not mistaken..." She suddenly hugged Anise. "It´s nice to see you again, Anise."

"B-But, your majesty...!", Anise stammered. "Not in pub...!"

"Oh, enough!", Natalia interrupted her. "Your my friends after all!" She released her and hugged Florian next. "You look good, Florian."

"Thank you, your majesty.", Florian said. Next in line was Tear.

"Your visit is unexpected, but not unwelcomed.", Natalia greeted the other woman.

"I wouldn´t be so sure of that.", Tear said.

"What do you...?", Natalia began to say.

All the group could see was a metallic object that was swung as fast as lightning. And one moment later, Natalia lay on the ground, her eyes wide open, blood leaking out of her neck non-stop, the dagger wich Tear had used beside her.

"Mission accomplished...", Tear said.

The two persons, both clothed in black cloaks, faced each other inside the room with the machine, their swords ready, both breathing heavily.

"Not bad.", the person who had been working inside that room minutes ago said. "She must really be serious if she send someone as strong as you to finish me off."

"Tche!", was the intruder´s only answer.

"And with whom, if I may ask, do I have the honor of crossing my blade?", the person asked.

"I shall tell you my name...", the intruder said and took off his hood. A cascade of long, reed hair was revealed. "My name is Asch the Bloody!"

Both combatants looked at each other for a while, then the person laughed. "How very amusing! Such irony of fate!", the person snickered "I haven´t heard something this amusing in a long time! Tell me another one!"

"You won´t have time to laugh any longer! Die!!!", the intruder who called himself Asch shouted and stormed towards the other person.

Minutes later a huge explosion occured inside the room with the machine, said machine complete destroyed.

Annotation: I hope that chapter didn´t scare any Natalia fans off. Well, it was my brother´s decision to this, not mine. :'-( By the way, he has already written 21 chapters of this story. So until that chapter, I will be updating frequently. After that, it all depends on how fast my brother writes. He can be a bit slow when it comes to this and needs to be in the right mood for it. ^^;


	3. Chapter 3: The flying castle

_**Chapter 3: The flying Castle**_

Seconds went by in which the ones present inside the throne were staring at Natalia who lied on the floor, paralyzed by horror.

"Now...", Tear whispered.

Guy was the first one to recover. "How.. How could you...!?!", he started and was just about to attack Tear when the whole castle began tremble, and he and the others fell to the ground while Tear jumped to the side and clinged to a pillar in order to keep on standing. Kamui was unconscious immediately.

"It´s not over yet!", Tear shouted and, with another dagger, jumped at Guy who manged to roll to the side and dodge her and, because of the castle´s shaking, crashed against a wall. "Grr!", the Fon Master Guardian snarled, took her staff and sang: "Toue Rei Zue Kuroa Ryou Toue Zue!"

"Ugh!", Guy gasped when the paralyzing Fon Arte hit him.

"Nocturnal Light!!!", Tear screamed, and immediately three daggers surrounded Guy in a triangle that created a wall of energy that hurt Guy badly.

"Tear! Stop it!", Luke shouted, having finally managed to stand with all that shaking, and stormed towards Tear to prevent her from further attacking.

"Toue Rei Zue...", Tear started, but Anise was faster and shouted: "Oh twisted door of distortion, open wirde! Negative Gate!!!" A dark orb, impregnated with the Fonon of Darkness hit Tear who fell to the ground. Luke wanted to bend down and grab her, but Tear charged forward, kneed him against his legs so that he fell, jumped up, clung to the chandelier at the ceiling and jump further to the windowsill.

"Oh healing power! First Aid!!!", Florian shouted, thus healing Guy. "Are you okay, Guy?"

"Y... Yeah... I´m okay...", Guy moaned and saw just in time Tear throwing more daggers at him. "Look out!!!" He pushed Florian to the side and then rolled out of danger himself.

"That´s enough now!", Anise shouted, raised her staff and screamed: "Field Barrier!!!" A gigantic barrier surrounded her, Luke, Guy, Florian and Kamui who were all protected from Tear´s attacks.

"Changing plans! Do it now!", Tear shouted outside of the window up to the castle towers.

"As you wish...", the person wearing the cloak who clung at the castle walls said and activated the gadget.

The palace began to shake even more, and the next moment the ground beneath the giant building split open. The guards who had been standing outside and had been trying to enter the palace now ran to the side screaming, when dozens of beams of light shot out of the ground. A construct of light - like a tree - slowly grew out of the ground and lifted the castle higher and higher.

"Mission failed...", Tear whispered and jumped out of the window.

"What´s happening here?!?", Luke shouted, confused, while he was staggering because of the heave shaking.

"The castle is slowly gaining height!", Florian said, frightened, while looking outside of the window.

"What?!?", Anise screamed.

"We have to get out!", Guy yelled. "As fast as we can, before we get trapped inside here!!!" He took the unconscious Kamui and, with a last look at his dead wife, stormed outside of the throne room, followed by Luke, Anise and Florian.

"What is the meaning of this?!? Why is this happening?!?", Florian shouted, confused, while they were dodging busts and walls, crumbling armors and their weapons - lances - which they were holding in their metallic arms as best as they could.

"I dunno! But Guy is right, we have to get out of here as fast as possible!", Luke yelled. "If we don´t hurry, the castle will be to high in the air and we´ll be trapped inside here!" The stairs they had wanted to run down collapsed before their eyes.

"Damnit!", Guy cursed, stopping just in time before he would have fallen down, and ran towards another direction, the others directly behind him. A bust hit Anise who fell to the ground.

"Anise!", Florian shouted in horror, grabbed her and managed to get her on her feet again.

"How far!?", Anise shouted while tending to her now bleeding shoulder.

"Just a little further!", Guy answered, stormed through a tapestry, and outside to the foyer.

"Out of the way! It takes to long to open the door the normal way!", Anise yelled. The others jumped to the side. "I´ll smash you with a giant hammer! Mircale Hammer!!!" A giant hamer of light appeared and destroyed the metal door. "Und now out!" She jumped outside, followed by Luke and Florian. Guy was just about to follow her as something grabbed him and managed to knock him down.

"What the...?!?", he shouted while falling down, tasting blood. He lost Kamui who flew through the hallway until crashing against a wall. Guy turned and looked at the one who had manged to knock him down: It was a liger. "What?!"

"You´re going to sta here!", a person wearing a cloak who stood behind the liger said. "We can´t have any interferences."

Luke, Anise and Florian who had landed on the ground rather ungentle looked up the castle which was raised higher and higher by the tree of light.

"Why doesn´t he jump down?! Where is he?! He was directly behind us!", Anise shouted. They waited a few more seconds.

"I´m going inside!", Luke finally said.

"But how?! The entrance is too high above us!", Florian said.

"I´m gonna think of something!", Luke said and was just about to run towards the castle when a sword, impregnated with the Fonon of Lightning, came flying towards him. "What the...?!" He jumped to the side just in time and spotted a person wearing a cloak and holding a strange gadget in his hand who jumped from one castle tower to the other and finally landed in front of the three friends.

"You won´t get inside of there!", the person said.

"Piss of, you wannabe bouncer!", Anise shouted and threw a hammer of light towards him.

"Oh mantling gale of the spirits of the earth! Stalagmite!!!", the person shouted and a stalagmite shot outside of the ground, protected him against the hammer, but cracked into thousands of shards which flew in every direction. Luke, Anise and the person maneged to dodge them, but Florian wasn´t that lucky.

"No! Barrier!!!", Anise screamed and summoned a barrier around Florian that protected him against the flying rocks.

"Residents of Baticul!", a loud voice suddenly radiated through Baticul. The voice´s owner was nowhere to be seen.

"But how...?!?", Luke started, befuddled, and looked around for the source of the voice.

"It´s the same technique Mohs had used once when he had been at Eldrant and had threatened Auldrant!", Anise explained.

"The royal family is taking a much needed vacation... Ihihihihihihihi!", the narcissistic voice continued.

"That voice...!", Luke said, eyes huge and disgusted.

"And as long as they´re on that vacation - forever, I´d like to say - I´ll be taking the leadership of this kingdom!"

"Oh my...", Anise started.

"Dist the Reaper!", Florian shouted.

"SILENCE, DOWN THERE!!! IT´S ROSE!!! R-O-S-E!!!", the voice belonging to Dist the Rea... um... Dist the Rose screached. "Residents of Baticul, be warned! Whoever resists, is as good as dead! This is no joke!"


	4. Chapter 4: Replicas

_**Chapter 4: Replicas...**_

"Ah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!!", Dists magically strenghtened voice was heard throughout the city. "As I said before, residents of Kimlasca, surrender or you will pay with your lives!"

"Where are you, asshole!?", Luke yelled and looked around frantically for the source of the voice.

"Where I am? Ah hah hah hah! That doesn´t matter! If I were you I´d rather pay attention to what´s happening around me!"

"Thunder Blade!!!", the person wearing the cloak shouted in that exact moment, and a sword, impregnated with the Fonons of Lightning, shot towards Luke who jumped to the side. The sword crashed into a house wall that exploded immediately. The house shook, then crumbled down.

"No!!!", Luke screamed, many lives annihilated at once.

"Just sit still, otherwise there will be more victims!", the person under the cloak snickered and aimedfor another house. "Thunder Blade!!!"

"No! Stop!", Florian shouted and jumped in front of the house, trying to protect it.

"Florian, no!", Anise screamed in horror and aimed at Florian with her staff. "Barrier!!!" A barrier appeared just in time around Forian and threw the blade back towards the person who just stood there, not moving an inch.

"Va Rei Zue Toue Neu Toue Ryou Toue Kuroa...", they heard someone sing, and in the moment a protecting shield appeard which blocked the sword and let it crash into one of the castle´s towers. Tear who had sung the protecting fonic hymn landed beside the person.

"Tear, what´s happening here?! Why are you helping them?!", Luke asked her.

"That´s none of your business.", Tear answered in a monotone voice and threw daggers at him, lightning-fast, which he blocked with his sword.

Several Oracle Knights stormed the palace grounds moments later, all heavily armed.

"But how...?!?", Florian started, confused.

"Doesn´t matter how, at least we have _some_ kind of support now!", Anise said, satisfied. "Guys... GO GET 'EM!!!" But the Oracle Knights didn´t obey their Fon Master, they all pointed their weapons towards Luke, Anise and Florian. "What the...?! ... Oh, I got it... of course..."

"What´s going on?! Why are you´re people against us?!", Luke asked.

"Replicas...", was Anise´s only answer.

"What?!?", Florian shouted with huge eyes.

"Each one of them are replicas!", Anise said and pointed at the Oracle Knights. "Isn´t that right, _Sync_!?!" Lightning-fast she produced a heavy wind that made the cloaked persons hood fall off. The grinning face of Syn appeared under it.

"But how...?!?", Luke asked, perplexed.

"Dist had been in Sync´s present long enough to have been able to make a replica of him.", Anise explained. "I bet the Sephiroth which is raising the castle higher and higher is also only a replica."

"Grrr! Come out of your hiding place, you coward!", Luke screamed and looked up at the sky. "Do you think you can just produce replicas and let them fight for you!? That´s exactly the same thing Master Van did!!"

"You´re still calling my brother `Master´? How pathetic.", Tear taunted.

"Tear, why...?", Luke asked her again.

Tear sighed. "I just realized that there is no other way.", she said, voice devoid of any emotion. "The planet´s memory is unstoppable..."

"Yes, Lorelei is now part of the fon belt, but the planet´s memory is still active like it has always been. It will never end like this.", Sync said.

"The only way is the destruction and revival of mankind.", Tear added.

An arrow meant for Luke shot towards him, and Luke could manage to dodge it, not only a second left.

"What the...?!", Luke stammered: Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Gardios, sitting on a griffin who flew down from the castle, approached.

"So you also made a replica of Gloomietta that can control monsters.", Anise snarled and looked at Natalia. Suddenly her eyes went huge. "I know where Dist is! He´s inside the castle!"

"What?!", Luke shouted.

"This is a replica of Natalia! He´s got to be inside of the castle! Otherwise he couldn´t have gathered any material for a replica of Natalia!"

"This is...... a replica of Natalia?!", Florian repeated, shocked, while the replica of Natalia to the ground, an arrow aimed at at the three friends.

Tear, a replica of Sync and Natalia, and the Oracle Knights... yes, Luke and his friends were totally surrounded, no exit in sight...

Annotation: I painfully remember this chapter. One whole month had passed between chapter 3 and this chapter! So, after I´ve translated chapter 21 it could really take some time before a new update. ^^;


	5. Chapter 5: Flight!

_**Chapter 5: Flight!!!**_

Tear, the replicas of Sync and Natalia, and a dozen Oracle Knights... yes, Luke and his two friends were totally surrounded, no exit in sight.

"Well, what shall it be? Are you going to surrender without a fight and survive, or will you fight and die?", Dist´s voice was to be heard through the city.

"I choose neither!", Luke yelled.

"Ah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!!", Dist laughed. "Everything concerning this situation speaks against you, my ravishingly dense barbarians! I have eliminated the leader Kimlasca´s, queen Natalia! Und all royal forces - generals and co., to be precisely - are confined to the castle as well! Thus Kimlasca´s has lost its every protection and is at my mercy!"

"That´s what you think! Once we´ve entered the castle saved Guy, you won´t have anything left to laugh at!", Luke yelled back at him.

"Guy? Guy who?", Dist giggled. "Oh, you mean that cute lapdog of queen Natalia! Who knows if he´s even alive anymore! And even so, first, nobody is going to listen to him anyway, second, it will be impossible to enter the castle, and third..."

"Third?", Anise repeated.

"Third... um... uh... Third... I... well, the third fact is qu-quite easy... it´s... I mean... that... Third... uh... YOU´RE ALL STUPID BARBARIANS!!!"

"Äääh....", was Luke´s, Anise´s and Florian´s only answer to that while Tear and Sync were sighing deeply.

"Anyway, I win, you lose!", Dist cackled.

"I think he´s right.", Luke said.

"What?! Luke, you can´t be serious!", Anise shouted, enraged. "You can´t just give up!"

"Of course not! I just mean he´s right about us not being able to enter the castle.", Luke corrected her. "So we´re just going to..."

"Yes...?", Florian asked.

"SCRAM!!!", Luke scramed and punched the ground with his fist. Seventh Fonon streamed inside the ground, and mere second later said ground split open and a giant circular wall of stone surrounded Luke and his friends, protecting them.

"What the...?!", Tear shouted while Sync was aiming at the wall and shouted: "Thunder Blade!!!" A sword of thunder flew at the wall of stone and exploded, the wall still standing.

"Tch! What is the meaning of this!? You idiots have practically built your own prison!", Sync snarled.

"He´s right, Luke!", Anise agreed, worried. "We may be save in here, but we´re not going to get anywhere with this!"

"Maybe so, but this way they can´t see from where we´re going to attack next.", Luke whispered. "On the count of three, you´re going to storm towards the harbour, got it?"

"But what about Guy?", Florian asked.

"That´s exactly the point.", Luke said. "If we want to safe Guy, we have to reach the harbour first!"

"O... Okay...", Anise said, hesitating.

"One...", Luke started and looked at the castle. _`The harbour lies south east of the castle, so...´_, he thought. He turned towards south east. "... two..." He aimed with both hands at the stone wall. ".. THREE!!!" A gigantic ray of light - a hyperresonance - shot from his hands and destroyed part of the stone wall he had aimed at as well as part of the Oracle Knights standing behind it. He, Anise and Florian started running immediately, using the enemy´s confusion, and Luke knocked out the Oracle Knights in his way.

"Thunder Blade!!!", they heard Sync yelling behind them.

"Don´t stop now!", Luke shouted at the other two while storming inside one of the elevators that would transport them to a deeper area of the city.

"Cut off the elevator´s rope!!!", Tear bellowed.

"Uh-Oh!", Luke said, not having thought of that.

"Great!", Anise who would have liked to strangle him now screached, leaned with her body out of the elevator, aimed with her staff above her and screamed: "Limited!!!" A ray of light shot down from the heavens and hit the Oracle Knights who were trying to cut off the rope.

"Idiots! Do it!", Sync shouted, having nearly reached the elevator.

"C´mon! C´mon!!", Anise begged the elevator to speed up, and knocked out more Oracle Knights, trying to cut off the rope. Sync was nearly there.

"What´re we gonna do?! What´re we gonna do?!", Florian shouted, desperate.

"Thunder Blade!!!", Sync shouted again, and the sword of thunder cut off the elevator´s rope, the elevator falling down and crashing on the ground, destroyed.

"Take one of the other elevators and search for their corpses!", Sync ordered the Oracle Knights who did as told.

But they could search as long as they wanted: Luke, Anise and Florian had jumped out of the elevator and had clung to one of the many roofs of the houses the elevator had passed.

"Theeeeeeeeeeeere you go!", Luke groaned as he lifted Florian onto the roof before running over the roofs of the city towards another elevator that would take them deeper inside the city.

The castle of Baticul seemed like there was nobody in it anymore, the hallways totally destroyed because of the steady sephiroth tree´s steady shaking while lifting the building higher and higher. Only the numreous bloody corpses of military officers and other members of the military showed what had been going on moments before inside the castle. But the castle wasn´t empty, no... Several corridors away from a dead liger, Guy, his unconscious son on his shoulders, hobbled through the hallways, the leg the liger had grabbed, broken.

"Damnit...", Guy panted and finally, hidden behind a pillar, sank to the ground. _`I was lucky the person who had been ordering the liger had gone away.´_, he thought. _`Whoever that was must have thought I was done for when that monster had grabbed me.´_ He looked at his son whom he had leaned against a wall, happy to see that at least he was okay. _`I hope Luke and the others are okay. I´m sure Baticul isn´t the only city that´s going to be attacked. Now that Kimlasca is in their hands, their next destination will probably be--´_ But he couldn´t finish his thoughts, because he noticed just in time that something came crashing down towards him. He ducked just before the giant scythe hit him, instead destroying the pillar. The destroyed pillar wavered and was about to fall onto Guy and Kamui. "Damnit!", Guy shouted, grabbed his son and rolled to the side.

"This is where your little adventure ends!", a giant person with an even more gigantic scythe shouted and aimed again at Guy and Kamui who where still laying on the ground.

"There!", one of the Oracle Knights who had spotted something pink behind a house wall shouted and stormed with his colleagues towards the dark alley. But only a pink frazzle of cloth that had been glued to the wall greeted them. "Argh!"

"Honestly! Why do we have to use _my_ clothes for such a stupid decoy!?", Anise grumbled while they were running through side streets and climbing over houses instead of using the elevators.

"Just think about what Jade had once said when we´d entered the Tower of Rem.", Luke explained. "Replicas are, when created, actually like newborns. Just like me when Master Van had created me. I didn´t know anything, neither how to speak, nor how to walk. But if you implant information inside a replicas memory, they can do basic things. It must be the same for those replicas. They all have basic information, like how to walk and that they have to obey Dist and his minions, but nothing else. With other words, they´re not really smart."

"Ah, I understand! And since Anise´s pink clothes are the most obvious about us, you used it as a decoy, because they would even remember that colour with their small intelligance and would fall for it!", Florian said.

"Hmm... I´d never thought you´d remember something the Colonel once said.", Anise teased.

"Instead of making fun of me, you should rather be quiet and run faster!", Luke snarled and jumped from a roof deeper inside the city, towards the harbour.

"What exactly are you planning to do at the harbour?", Florian asked.

"Well, Dist has actually given me the answer to the problem of how to reach the castle.", Luke explained. "Once we reach the harbour, we´ll take a ship that´s headed toward Sheridan."

"Sheridan?"

"Yes. And there we´re going to ask Aston to lend us the Albiore II, so--"

"-- so we can fly up to the caste!", Anise shouted loudly, finally understanding.

"There they are!", an Oracle Knight who had heard Anise shouted.

"Ooops!", Anise said while Luke and Florian were glaring at her.

"You won´t get away!", the Oracle Knight shouted and stormed, his weapon raised, together with several colleagues towards the group.

"Did anyone see what´s behind that wall?", Luke asked the other two and pointed at the wall behind them.

"Huh?!", Florian started.

"We´ve just jumped down from there! What´s behind this wall?! A house?!"

"N-No, a street, I think. Why?", Anise asked.

"Good!", Luke yelled, punched the wall and released Seventh Fonons out of his body that destroyd the wall who now blocked the Oracle Knight´s way. "C´mon!" An arrow hit the ground mere centimetres before them.

"Not so fast!", a feminine voice shouted, and Natali´s replica jumped down from a wall and landed in from of them, an arrod pointed directly at Luke´s heart.

"Out of the way!", Anise spat.

"I don´t think so.", the replica answered. "If you want to pass, you have to fight me. But the question is: Can you fight against someone who looks like you´re frind? Well?" She smirked triumphantly.

It was just like back then with Frings, Iemon and Mary... Even though they know that she was merely a replica, they couldn´t just fight against someone who looked like somebody who they´d once been friends with...


	6. Chapter 6: The tower

_**Chapter 6: The tower**_

"Be good kids and die!!!", the replica of Natalia yelled and stormed towards the three friends who were now taking a defensive stance. But before anyone could do some kind of damge against the enemy, a sudden feeling of dread rushed through Luke, his body going rigid, like when someone had a seizure.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Luke screamed out of pain, making Anise, Florian and even Natalia stopping all their plans of attacking. Luke´s eyes rolled into their sockets, everything around him pitch black...

"... Where am I...?", Luke murmered when opening his eyes again. He was lieing on cold marble ground, totally different fromd the stone ground of Baticul. He sat up, limbs aching, and looked around. He was sitting on a giant tower amidst eternel nothingness. "What...?" Orbs of light of different colours where flowing around the area. "Fonons...? But... how am I able to see them...?" He stood up and looked around some more. Where did he end up?! A sound behind him made him turn around in a hurry. A person, clothed in a dark cloak, stood a few metres ahead of him. "Who are you?", Luke asked the person who just looked at him. "Are you one of Dist´s minions?"

"Not that I´m aware of.", the person answered after a few moments.

"Well... Who are you, then?", Luke asked.

"That doesn´t matter.", the person said. "And I don´t know what you would gain from knowing."

"But...", Luke started, but stopped and let his gaze wander around again. "If you´re not going to tell me your name, at least tell where I am." Silence. "Well?"

"... This is a place deep inside you, a place deep inside your heart.", the person finally said.

"Huh? I don´t understand.", Luke said, slightly confused.

"That doesn´t matter.", the person said and suddenly drew a sword. "Explaining it to you would only be a waste of time, because your life is going to here anyway."

"What?! Why...?"

"Shut up and fight!", the person yelled and stormed towards Luke with his sword.

"Grrr!", Luke hissed, let himself fall to the ground, rolled to the side to dodge and jumped up again, sword drawn. "Okay, this day will be known in history as my worst day ever! First Dist goes totally beserk, and now I´m stuck at a strange place with an even stranger person!" He stormed towards the person. "Must be cursed, or something like that!"

"Die!", the person bellowed and hit with rapid thrusts from his sword at Luke who blocked the attacks with his own sword. The person jumped backwards, but Luke followed, just to hit air, because his foe had performed a second jump over him, landed on the ground, concentrated and yelled: "Icicle Rain!!!" Several sharp blades of ice shot forth, and now Luke had to roll to the side again to dodge. But while he was only concentrating on defending himself, his foe had used that time to storm forward and was now about to stab his sword through Luke´s body. "This is the end!!!", the person screamed and...

"Luke! Wake up, already!", Anise shouted and slapped Luke, hard, which made him wake up.

"W-What...?", mumbled and opened his eyes. A salty sea breeze greeted his nose.

"Thank Yulia!", Florian who kneeled beside Anise said, relieved.

"What... happened?", Luke asked and sat up. He was on board of a small cutter that was floating along the sea, Baticul in the distance.

"We managed to get out of Baticul.", Florian explained.

"But how? Natalia´s replica had been attacking us, and then... and then..." But Luke stopped as he remembered the person whom he had fought against. He inspected his body for wounds, but couldn´t find any. Had this only been a dream? "... How exactly did we manage to get away from Natalia?", he eventually asked the other tow.

"Honestly? No idea.", Anise said.

"Huh?"

"Well, Natalia had been about to attack as when you had cried out in real agony.", Florian began to explain.

"She and we had been paralyzed with shock, and you suddenly had been glowin, and the next moment...", Anise resumed the explanation.

"And the next moment?", Luke repeated.

"It was... weird.", Florian said. "The next moment you had been just standing there calmy, had looked at Natalia and had said `Leave!´ to her."

"And then?"

"And then she had really left.", Anise explained.

"Huh? ... Just so?", Luke asked, perplexed.

"Yes, just so.", Anise said and nodded. "And after she had left, we hadn´t run into any more enemies. We had been able to get you to the harbour without a problem and had taken this small cutter. It was as if Natalia´s replica had distracted the Oracle Knights or something like that..."

"But...", Luke started and looked up to the sky that was now full of stars. "What do you mean, `it was weird´?", he finally asked Florian.

"You were suddenly so... different.", Florian explained. "Totally calm, as if you hadn´t been escaping out of the city just now. As if you were someone else..."

"Hmm...", Luke hummed. "If Jade were here, maybe he would know something..."

"Speaking about the Colonel...", Anise said.

"Hmm?"

"We had an idea.", Florian started. "Dist´s attack at the castle had the only aim to conquer Kimlasca, right?"

"So it seens...", Luke agreed.

"But don´t you also think that this isn´t the end of it?", Anise asked. "Don´t you think Dist would want more than that?"

"Do you mean...?", Luke started, shocked.

"Yes. We believe he´s going to attack Malkuth as well.", Anise said.

"Argh!", Luke moaned. "Why did this disgusting cockroach break out of prison!? How does he even manage it?!"

"Well, cockroaches are tough little buggers.", Anise said and shrugged.

"Anyway, we´re sure he´s going to attack Malkuth next.", Florian said. "Even if he only wanted to conquer Kimlasca, Malkuth is not going to just do nothing against it. He has to take over that kingdom, too."

"And there´s still Daath.", Anise said, serious.

"Daath?", Luke repeated.

"Yeah, Daath. There is no doubt that Dist had attacked Baticul today when I reached the city. He had wanted to eliminate the Fon Master - me - as well to get Daath out of his way as well. Two birds with one stone, so to say."

"So what you mean is that we should rather hurry to Grand Chokmah first then hurry to Sheridan, right?", Luke said.

"Right.", Florian said.

"I guess we have no other choice.", Luke sighed. "If we allow Dist to take over Malkuth as well, then things will certainly get worse for us, even if we have Daath´s help." He looked towards the replica of the Sephiroth in the distance. "Hang in there, Guy..."

Annotations: Is there even someone left who´s reading this story?


	7. Chapter 7: The great sea

_**Chapter 7: The great sea**_

"So that´s him?", a rather narcistic voice was to be heard from the other side of the room.

"Yes.", another voice, much deeper and cruler than the first one, said.

"The one with the power of Lorelei. Well, the brat doesn´t look like anything special." Again that narcistic voice.

"I don´t care what you think about his looks. The only thing you have to think about is how you manage to make a perfect replica of him. The outcome of our whole plan depends on that, Dist the Reaper."

"The Ro--!"

"Oppositions!?"

"No, commandant, sir!"

"Gut, then get to work!"

"Yes, commandant, sir!"

The little boy with short red hair who was lieing on a strange machine inside the cellar of his father´s vacation residence opened his eyes dazedly and looked up at the man with the deep voice who hovered above him.

"Master...?", the boy groaned.

"I need you... Asch...", the man whispered when the boy suddenly felt a sharp pain, the machine on which he was lieing now started. The pain became more and more, und the little boy screamed louder and louder, but his screams were not to be heard by anyone other than the two people inside the room who didn´t care about his agony...

"STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Luke screamed and shot up, instantly awake.

"Whatsup?", A sleepy Anise murmured next to him, no awake as well. Luke, sweating like mad, looked around: He and his two friends were still on board of the cutter whose course was planned by a machine called fonon navigator to be Grand Chokmah.

"Nightmare...", Luke only answered, stood up, left the sleeping berth which consisted of old rags found inside the cabin and went towards the reeling. Anise grumbled something about `annoying redheaded aristocratic idiots´, rolled to the other side and was asleep a few minutes later again, while said aristocratic idiot was inhaling the night´s air deeply and looked up to the sky. "I... am Luke...", he whispered and thought back to the scene in his dream. "Luke... not Asch..." How long would he still have to see these memory parts of Asch´s memory? Since his unification with Asch which had saved his life back then and had prevented him from disappearing, he always saw memory parts of the dead God-General from time to time, all full of pain and torment. _`I... had no idea how it had been for him...´_, Luke thought und lay his head on the cool reeling. _`Losing everything in an instant... everything... I think having to relive everything he had to go through is the right punishment for me... for everything I´ve done... for Akzeriuth... for the lives I´ve taking in the Tower of Rem... for everything...´_

The next day began foggy and damp, and Grand Chokmah which lay far to east on Auldrant was still a ways away.

"Morning...", an Anise with totally messed up hair greeted Luke who hadn´t slept at all for the rest of the night. A rumbling from Luke´s stomach greeted her. "Yeah, I´m hungry, too.", she added.

"Sorry.", Luke apologized. "Is Florian still asleep?"

"Yeah.", Anise said, yawned loudly and then sighed. "You weren´t the only one who didn´t sleep well this night?"

"Hmm?"

"Florian had started to mumble and kick shortly after you...", Anise said and looked to the ground sadly.

"This whole situation caused to bring back painful memories, huh?", Luke said.

"Yeah. I don´t even want to know what they did to him when he was still locked inside Mt. Zaleho together with the other replicas of Ion."

"Hmm...", Luke hummed and looked to the ground as well.

Anise sighed again. "Let´s... Let´s change our course for the moment.", she suggested.

"Why?"

"We´re all hungry, right?", Anise said. Luke´s stomach rumbled again in agreement. "Engeve would be right on our way, wouldn´t it? Let´s stop there and buy food."

"And what about Gald? We don´t have anything with us.", Luke argued.

"Well, isn´t it good to have the Fon Master by your side?", Anise said. "Ever since I´ve fought my way to the top of the Order of Lorelei, I can throw with Gald the whole day and still be the richest girl on the planet!" She took out a bag from under her clothes and shook it. The inside jingled, full of Gald.

"Money, money money (!), must be funny (!), in the rich men´s world...", Luke sang quietly, but Anise heard him and punched his ribcage. "Ow!"

"It´s your own fault!", Anise snarled and went back to the sleeping berth to look for Florian.

Several hours passed in which the three friends weren´t able to do anything except arguing with each other since Anise had suddenly began to sing.

"... Ooooh, you touch my tralala, my ding-däng-do--"

"Argh! Just stop it! My ears are bleeding!", Luke snarled. Anise glared back at him and stopped.

Silence...

"Oh, I got it!", Anise suddenly said. "I tell you a colour and you have to guess! Blue!"

"The sea?", Luke said, annoyed.

"Wow, you´re sooo smart, Luke!", Anise teased.

"Well, I rather think the person you had the brilliant idea for _such_ a game is the rather stupid one!", Luke said.

"Grrr!", Anise grumbled and jumped up, staff drawn.

"Please, don´t fight!", Florian pleaded.

"You stay out of this!", Anise yelled at him. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Oh, don´t cry, Florian! I´m sorry!" She took him in her arms and combed him through his hair soothingly. "I didn´t want to shout."

"R-Really?", Florian sniffled and looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, really."

"Man, I really hope we´ll reach Engeve soon and get something to eat and drink. Otherwise, we´ll be killing each other soon.", Luke sighed when Florian suddenly screamed.

"W-What?!?", Anise asked, perplexed, whom Florian had screamed into her ears.

"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Florian screached and pointed at the cutter´s bow.

Luke´s and Anise´s eyes went huge: Their cutter was floating directly towards something giant and solid, evasion impossible...


	8. Chapter 8: The cave

_**Chapter 8: The cave**_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Florian screached as loud as he could.

"Don´t shout into my ear, damnit!", Anise yelled back into his ear in exchange.

"Be quiet!", Luke demanded while the cutter was nearing the hard object, some kind of giant rock, more and more.

"What´re we gonna do?! What´re we gonna do?!", Anise yelled.

"Taking cover and hope for the best!", Luke shouted and let himself fall to the ground, followed by the others. He closed his eyes, waiting for the crash, and-- nothing happened.

"Are we in heaven now?", Florian asked and looked up from the ground. The whole area around them was fairly dark, as if they had entered a cave.

"What the...?!", Anise stammered and stared at the wall of rock behind the,.

"It seems as if we´ve just shot through a firm rock wall...", Luke said, eyes huge.

"But how?!", Florian asked.

"It seems the wall is some kind of illusion or something like that.", Anise said.

"How do you know that?", Luke asked.

"I dunno know. I´m just speculating.", Anise explained. "I´m not the Colonel who knows everything right away."

"Hmm... But an illusion for what purpose?", Florian wondered while the cutter was coming to a halt in front of a path made of rocks.

"We´ll see...", Luke said and jumped out of the cutter.

"Hey, wait! We don´t have time for that! We have to get to Grand Chokmah!", Anise protested.

"And what if this here is important? What if Dist is the one who built it?", Luke explained.

"Argh! Fine, do whatever you want!", Anise huffed and jumped out of the cutter as well.

"Wait!", Florian shouted and jumped onto the rocks as well.

"How do you know that this cave is connected to Dist somehow?", Anise asked.

"Well...", Luke started and thought. `Intuition´ would certainly be no reason for Anise to just leave the cutter and go on a an adventure trip when they were supposed to get to Grand Chokmah as quickly as possible. What would Jade do in this kind of situation? He looked at Anise and Florian who looked at him expactantly, to the ground again, then suddenly an idea hit him. "Do you remember this strange formation of rocks ever being here in this region? Well, I don´t."

"And? Do you know the sea by rote?", Anise contered and raised her eyebrows.

_`Ouch!´_, Luke thought. _`Failure number one...´_ "But why should someone hide this building with an illusion like this rock wall, huh?", he finally said.

"Well, it... could hide an old technology from the Dawn Age.", Florian suggested.

"I don´t think so.", Luke said. "Every place that has such a technology is built kinda strange. Think back to the places where the Sephiroth are. Think about Yulia City! This place isn´t built strange at all."

"So you´re just gonna trust you´re intuition and search thrugh this place while Dist and Co. can do as they like?!", Anise asked, slightly enraged.

"But we have to follow all leads we can find!", Luke retorted. "What about the Isle of Feres?! Had there ever been a cogent reason to go there?!"

"No, but...", Anise began, even more enraged.

"Or what about the duel against Arietta? Had there ever been a reason to waste our time with that?!"

Anise´s hand shot forth immediately and made contact with Luke´s cheeks quite hardly.

"Sor...", Luke started, appaled about himself.

"How... How dare you...?!", Anise started, her eyes huge and tears starting to fall.

"I...", Luke started.

"No one had asked you to accompany me to the duel!!!", Anise now screamed.

"I´m so--"

"If you wanna waste your time here that badly, then go!!!", Anise interrupted him and stormed back to the cutter.

"Anise, please come back!", Florian shouted after her and followed her. "Luke didn´t mean it! We´re all just hungry and therefore quite on edge, and..."

"Hmph!", was Anise´s only answer as she jumped back inside the cutter.

"It´s okay, Florian.", Luke sighed, depressed, and resumed walking deeper inside the cave. Florian looked from Luke to Anise and back, then followed Luke. "Don´t you rather want to stay at Anise´s side?"

"No, I´d rather not. She can be really diabolic if she´s angry.", Florian said, slightly shaking.

"I HEARD THAT!!!", Anise yelled, one of her shoes hitting Florian seconds later.

"I´m sorry...", Florian whined and hurried to follow Luke.

"Stupid Luke...", Anise grumbled and shielded her face with her hands. "Arietta..."

Luke and Florian had been wandering through the damp cave about half an hour, only the water that slid from the ceiling and hit the ground, accompanied the noise they made while wandering. No hint as to who had built this cave together with the illusion at the entrance had been found yet.

"Maybe Anise was right and we should go back.", Florian finally said.

"No, let´s move on.", Luke disagreed. "If I were Dist, I wouldn´t just place the thing I want to hide at the entrance. Especially not if Jade is after me."

"Jade?"

"Didn´t you hear?", Luke asked. "Anise told us while we we´re heading for the throne room back then that Jade had been assigned to find Dist and bring him back." He suddenly looked down, thoughtfully. "It´s strange... As far as I know two months have past since Dist broke out. And Jade still hasn´t captured him."

"Do you think... something happened to Jade?", Florian asked, worried.

"I dunno...", Luke said. "But the fact that Tear is now aiding Dist... no, I don´t think that Jade would..."

"What do you mean?"

"N-Nothing.", Luke said, hurriedly. "We´ll see what´s going on as soon as we reach Grand Chokmah."

"My, my...", Dist said inside a room whose walls were all pink. But not only the walls were adorned with this... headstrong colour: The floor, the carpets, the canopy, the desk, the chairs, the dil... um, everything was adorned with that colour! The former God-General looked from Tear to Sync´s replica and then to Natalia´s replica. "We finally managed to capture him, huh?"

"Yes, master.", Natalia said and kneeled before him.

"My, how nice! The queen herself is kneeling before me! I´ve always known that I´m special!", Dist squealed dreamily and looked at a cage who - you guessed right - was pink as well, a person sitting inside him, his three servants having him placed inside the cage just a few minutes ago. "Oooh, he looks just wonderful inside that cage! Totally adorable!"

"Hn...", was Tear´s only comment as she rolled her eyes.

"I saw that!", Dist snarled. "That´s it! No dinner for you tonight!"

"Hah hah!", a person holding a teddy laughted in one corner of the room.

"Silence, or there will be no dinner for you tonight either, darling!", Dist screached and then moved on: "Has the bait been prepared?"

"Yes, master.", Sync answered.

"Very good. And what´s the status about our... research project?"

"The major and the Fon Master Guardian are taking care of that right now.", Tear aswered.

"Fine, fine.", Dist happily said. "Operation `Fog´ is proceeding quite smoothly."

"Fog?", Natalia repeated, confused.

Tear rolled her eyes again and then said: "You know, `Fog´ is another word for `Nebel´. Just add a few more letters to `Nebel´ and you have--"

"Silence!", Dist bellowed and looked from Tear to the cage. "He doesn´t need to know everything, my ladies!" The person inside the cage grumbled loudly and glared at Dist who swallowed in slight fear.

Just who was that person inside the cage?!


	9. Chapter 9: The Quick strikes back

_**Chapter 9: The Quick strikes back**_

A rather small figure lay in the corner of a dark room, their whole body full of bruises.

"Am I... alive...?", the figure said, breath rattling, having regained consciousness just now, and tried to shakingly stand up, just to fall down again, legs not able to carry his weight.

"For now, yes.", a snickering voice said. Just now the door towards the room had been opened. "But only until operation `Fog´ is completed."

Another person with short golden hair who stood next to the snickering person went towards the little boy on the ground who now shouted happily: "Mommy!"

Luke and Florian were still wandering through the damp cave.

"How long since we started wandering?", Florian asked.

"More than an hour, I guess.", Luke said, whose short clothes weren´t really suitable for a place like this, and was shaking because of the cilly air.

"Ignis...", Florian mumbled quietly, and a small flame came forth from his hand, warming Luke.

"Thanks.", Luke said gratefully. "But you shouldn´t play around with your powers like that. You may have the original Ion´s abilities, but not his strength, just like..." But he stopped when he saw Florian´s face. "Sorry..."

"No, it´s okay.", Florian eventually said. "Do you think Anise will realize it someday?"

"Hmm?"

"That I´m not Ion, but Florian, a totally different person.", Florian continued.

"Hmm... I think she knows, but doesn´t want to acknowledge it.", Luke tried to explain. "Ion was... someone who´d been very, very precious to her. It´s just like with Asch and me: Natalia also had needed a long time before she had finally understood and accepted that I´m not Asch, and Asch isn´t me."

"Natalia...", Florian whispered. "Why... Why did Tear do that?"

"I don´t know.", Luke said and sighed deeply. "But the lookd in Tear´s eyes... It was pure hatred... The same look that Master Van had always given me. If only I had realized sooner that that look of his hadn´t been fondness, but that hatred..." Both men looked to the ground while they quietly wandered through the cave, just to close their eyes the next moment, because they were blinded by bright light.

"Hah!", Luke shouted triumphantly. "I told you!" Both stared with huge eyes at the giant factory in front of them. "I knew that something´s inside here! I bet the this is the replication facility where Dist created all of those Oracle Knight replicas!"

"It seems to be abandoned.", Florian said while inspecting the factory.

"Let´s explore a little inside.", Luke said and hurriedly resumed walking towards the building. "You know... This building reminds me of the Fonon Absorbation Reservoir in Belkend."

"You´re right.", Florian agreed. "The Fonon Absorbation Reservoir: A facility built by Kimlasca and Malkuth in order to preserve the last Fonons of the world that remained after shutting down the Planet Storm. It is some kind of recycling facility which gathers used Fonons from everywhere and makes them usable again. The Fonons which are consumed by the reservoir to be operable are made usable by said reservoir as well. The mechanism was invented by Doktor Jade Balfour and Doktor Spinoza."

"Everytime I hear that explanation it just sound ultra complicated.", Luke sighed. "But speaking simply: It´s a facility that makes used Fonon usable again." Florian nooded. "But why does this facility look just like the reservoir?"

"Well, I guess that Dist had to choose this model in oder to guarantee him having enough Fonons to use. Since the Planet Storm is shut down, the supply of Fonons is limited. The creation of replicas consumes a large amount of Fonons, and by rebuilding the Fonon Absorbation Reservoir he has that limited amount at his disposal."

"So this _has_ to be a replication facility!", Luke said. "Then let´s go already!"

"Holy Lance!!!"

Luke and Florian jumped to the side just in time to dodge the lances of light that shot down exactly where they´d just stood a few moments ago.

"Damn, missed! The enemy is still alive!", a woman with blonde hair that was tied into a knot said, her clothes black, one gun aimed at Luke, one at Florian.

"Legretta the Quick?!?", Luke shouted in surprise and dodged several salvoes of pistol-shots while Florian was protecting himself with a barrier. Luke pointed at the ground on which Legretta stood which was impregnated by Seventh Fonons at once and exploded. The fractions of the ground all shot a Legretta who jumped backwards lightning-fast and jumped up at one of the replication facitly´s towers, summoning a giant ball of fire which she threw down at Luke.

"Argh! Damn Dist! He even created a replica of Legretta!", Luke cursed while reflecting the huge fireball with a barrier of Seventh Fonon back at Legretta.

"The power of Lorelei. How impressive!", Legretta said while dodging the ball and had to jump to the side seconds later, because Luke had followed the ball. "Argh!", Legretta gasped. She had managed to block the following sword hit, but the impact of that attack had thrown her of balance and a ball of Seventh Fonons that followed seconds later made her crash against a one of the cave´s walls from where she fell down to the ground. Luke was just about to jump down and followe her to finish her off when he felt a huge pain at his forehead.

"N... No... What the...?!?", he gasped while everything around him became blurry. The last thing he remembered was him falling down the tower of the facility, deeper and deeper...

Roaring of the surf was the first thing Luke heard when he regained consciousness. Light brown hair and the smiling beautiful face of a woman was the first thing that greeted his vision when he looked to the side.

"You´re really funny, Lorelius.", the woman with long hair who sat beside him at a beach laughed and looked up at the setting sun at the horizon.

_`Lorelius? Who´s that?´_, Luke thought, confused, when he suddenly opened his mout against his will and said: "No, really, I know the future, starting from the planet´s birth, until its end."


	10. Chapter 10: Burning building

_**Chapter 10: Burning Building**_

"No, really, I know the future, from the planet´s birth, to its end.", Luke said against his will to the woman who sat at the beach beside him, his face split into a huge grin against his will again.

"Hee hee hee hee, you´re really weird, Lorelius!", the beautiful woman laughed. "Maybe even weirder than your sister Nebilia!"

"And you´re one big coach potatoe!", Luke retorted - again against his will. "Even your hair have become pale because all you do the whole day is sit in front of all that machines and gadgets in your room."

"Hey!", the woman grumbled and tried to hit his head which he dodged, laughing. "There is no other way, you know. If we want to survive, then..." She looked to the horizon with a worried expression where a misty violet wall of fog could bee seen.

_`The miasma?!´_, Luke thought in horror while his gaze had followed hers. _`What´s going on here?!´_ "Oh, I wouldn´t worry.", he suddenly said, yawned and leaned back."

"Oh yeah, there´s this fool-proof plan of yours.", the woman said, voice full of sarcasm. "Raising the planet´s crust with the help of Sepherithen... Helloooo, earth to Lorelius! You want ten little pillar-like things to lift the whole crust?! What are you, stupid?!" She laughed, her whole body shaking because of it, and sank to the ground beside him.

"It´s called `Sephiroth´.", Luke corrected her and sighed in bliss as he breathed in the smell radiating from the woman´s hair, a nice warmth spreading inside his heart. "Is... Is Levius already back...?", he asked after some time, trying to sound as casual as possible, and stared at the woman´s engagement ring, scowling.

"Not yet...", the woman answered and looked sad as well now.

"You don´t have to marry him, you know.", Luke said.

"You´re wrong. I have to.", the woman disagreed, not looking at him. "I´m the only one left of my line. It must not become extinct. And the one with the most fitting genes is Levius..."

"But you don´t like him!"

"Of course I don´t like him!", the woman snarled and jumped up, her long hair floating towards every direction. "But if I don´t marry him and get pregnant, then... then..."

"Yulia...", Luke murmured in sadness. _`Yulia?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?´_, Luke thought, shocked.

"Now, if you´ll excuse me, I still have to build something against the miasma!", the woman named Yulia said in slight anger, whirled around and wanted to return to the city in the distance.

"Fine! Just go and barricade yourself inside your room together with those damn fon machines!", Luke snapped at her. "But that won´t help you to eliminate the miasma! And it sure as hell won´t help you to get rid of that bastard Levius! And just so you know, I won´t ever trie again to get you out of that room to help you relax and make you smile!" The Fonon of Darkness, fired by Yulia, hit him in his stomach region.

"Asshole!!!", Yulia shouted and ran away while Luke lost consciousness...

"Do it already!", he heard a woman´s voice he knew very well scream.

"But I´m against brutal force...", he heard a soft male voice.

"DO WANNA DISOBEY!?!", the woman yelled in fury.

"Okay, okay!", the male voice said in terror, and the next moment someone slapped him with a force that wouldn´t even hurt a fly.

"What... where am I...?", Luke stammered and opened his eyes. Florian who had `slapped´ him was kneeling above him.

"I´m sorry! I´m so sorry!", he apologied, eyes, watering. "Anise forced me to slap you!"

"Anise...?", Luke groaned and only now saw Anise who had erected a shield around them and was trying to keep it from disappearing with all her might. "What is...?"

"Holy Lance!!!", he heard the voice of Legretta the Quick, and lances impregnated with the Fonon of Light hit the protecting shield which threw Anise a little bit back, the shield vanishing for a short moment, then appearing once again, about to vanish completely.

"JUST DO SOMETHING, DAMNIT!!!", Anise snapped at him in desperation. Luke stood up with wobbly legs and looked at Legretta´s replica who was concentrating on casting again.

_`We can´t risk a fight with her. I´m too weak at the moment, and Anise has to protect Florian.´_, he thought. _`Wait a moment! Replica´s are made of Seventh Fonon, so...´_ He pointed with one of his hands at Legretta who stood still immediately, a colourful light pouring out of her body and disappearing in Luke´s hand.

"Argh! Damn Scion of Lorelei...!", she groaned, looked at the replication facility and yelled: "Infernal Prison!!!" The facility stood in flames immediately and Legretta ran away as fast as possible.

"How did you...?!", Anise asked, confused.

"Doesn´t matter! Douse the fire!", Luked shouted at her.

"Huh?!"

"There´s something inside they don´t want us to see! That´s why Legretta´s replica came here!", Luke explained. "She wanted to eliminate it, but she met us here! Und now that she had to back off, she wants to destroy it this way! NOW DO AS I SAID!!!"

Anise concentrated and shouted: "Maelstrom!!!" A gigantic tempest of water shot at the facility but the fire didn´t disappear.

"Grrrr!", Luke grumnled and stormed inside the facility.

"Luke, no!", Florian shouted and tried to follow him.

"You stay here!", Anise yelled and grabbed his arm.

"But..."

"Uh-uh! I don´t want to lose you, not like--"

"I´M NOT ION!!!!!!!!!!!", Florian snapped at her. Anise´s eyes went huged, and in this short moment she let go of Florian´s hand, said man running after Luke immediately.

"Florian! No!", Anise screamed and wanted to follow him, but one of the towers crashed down, und the splattering debris hit her and knocked her down. "Flo... rian..."

"You failed?! What do you mean, `you failed´!?", Dist yelled, as angry as ever.

"I am sorry, master.", Legretta´s voice was to be heard from a fon machine.

"Argh! Worthless replica!", Dist snarled. "This research object is really important for the success of project `Fog´!"

"Do not worry, master! I used a fire spell on the factory. They won´t be able to get to him.", Legretta said.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?", Dist screached as loud as he had never before, making the room´s window´s explode so that the people present in there had to jump backwards so they didn´t get hit. Tear who just protected herself with a barrier rolled her eyes in annoyance and plugged balls of cotton inside her ears so she didn´t have to bear hearing Dist´s voice anymore. "YOU INCOMPETENT IDIOT!!! DIDN´T YOU LISTEN TO ME!?! I TOLD YOU THAT THIS RESEARCH OBJECT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE MISSION, MEANING WE NEED IT ALIVE!!! **ALIVE**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I don´t think that will be a problem.", Tear said, the balls of cotton not having helped to achieve blissful silence once again.

"What do you mean!?", Dist asked, breathing heavily after his screaming fit, his face now as pink as the furniture, the walls, the dil... uh, like everything in the room.

"The scion of Lorelei is with them. Fire won´t prevent him from entering the facility.", Tear calmly explained.

"Hmm... That may be true...", Dist said and thoughtfully looked at the person inside the cage in one corner of the room who was guarded by a girl holding a teddy. He looked away immediately once he saw the person´s look. "Well, it´s certainly convenient that the Fon Master Guardian is still there.", he said, looked at the fon machine and continued: "Legretta, withdraw immediately! The Fon Master Guardian will take care of the rest!"

"As you wish, my lord.", they could hear Legretta say, then the line was dead.

"Well, well, so they found the hideout, that cursed Jade gang..." He looked towards the cage again, started shaking and then let his gaze wonder to the dil... uh, the long something which lay on his desk, took it and looked at the the person inside the cage a third time. It was now the person inside the cage who was shaking in fear because of the `little something´ in Dist´s hands.

Annotation: Oh yeah! I had to change the summary of the story so that the pairings could fit in (Luke x Tear, Guy x Natalia, etc.) so some of you may not know about the author´s story: It´s my brother Leonyasch (for all you YouTubers: Yeah, it´s the Leonyasch on YouTube ^^) who is currently writing this story in German. I´m merely translating it into English. ^^

Oh, and another thing: Some may think that my brother hates Dist, but that´s not true at all. He is one of my brother´s (and one of my) favourite characters in the game! ;)


	11. Chapter 11: Link

_**Chapter 11: Link**_

Endless flames and smoke filled the hallways of the replication facility which Luke ran along, a hand held in front of his mouth and nose, the other hand eliminating the flames blocking his way with Seventh Fonon.

_`Somewhere inside the facility must be something. Somewhere... Something that will make it easier for us to stop Dist´s plans, whatever they may be...´_, Luke thought while passing replication machines, giant tanks filled with fluid nutrient salts and loudly buzzing generators of which some of them were exploding now because of the flames. But no matter how far he went, no matter how many laboratories he searched, he couldn´t find anything that Dist wouldn´t be able to rebuild in a few seconds with fomicry. "Damnit!", he cursed and kicked against one of the generators in anger which exploded in answer and knocked him down.

"Luke! Are you okay?!", Florian shouted in horror and knelt down before him.

"Florian?! What are you doing here?! Where´s Anise?!", Luke asked and stood up.

"She´s--", Florian started.

"WATCH OUT!!!", Luke yelled when one of the floor beams broke and was about to crash down on them. He grabbed Florian and jumped with him to the side. But a certain long part of his body was hit by the floor beam and trapped underneath it. "Ow! Ouch!", he whined pathetically and pulled on his long hair that was now trapped beneath the debris.

"Oh,no! Wait, I´ll help you!", Florian said worriedly and was already about to try pushing the debris to the side.

"There´s no time!", Luke disagreed, drew his sword and just cut off his long hair so that he now had short hair. "It´ll only get in the way during a fight.", he said, grabbed Florian´s hand and dragged him further through the smoke-filled hallways while keeping said smoke with Seventh Fonons at bay. "Damnit, Florian, what are you doing here!?"

"I couldn´t just let you go alone!", Florian explained.

"But...", Luke started, but stopped when he saw a room full of strange machines that were totally destroyed, as if a fight had happened inside that room. [Annotations: The fight happened in chapter 2 ;)] He stared at the room for a while, then resumed pulling Florian along, and said: "Florian, I can use the Seventh Fonon by mere will! Do you really think I´d need help!? The only one needing help now is you!"

"I´m sorry...", Florian murmured in apology when they passed stairs that led to a deeper part of the facility. Luke thought for a short while, then went down those stairs. "Why are we going down there?"

"Because those fon machines can be rebuild in an instant. I wanna see what´s down there."

They reached the end of the stairs, and Luke kicked open the door that had become too hot because of the flames. More thick smoke greeted them... and a muted wheeze was to be bearly heard.

"There´s someone inside here!", Florian said, shocked.

"C´mon!", Luke said, dragged him further along through the room - some kind of dungeon - and passed cell after cell until they saw a small figure lying in one of them which lay on the ground, not moving at all. Luke destroyed the cell´s lock, threw the little body over his shoulders and ran back up together with Florian. "We´ve found what we were looking for."

"What?!"

"This person is the only thing in this facility that Dist can´t replicate that easy if he doesn´t have the replication data.", Luke explained. "Let´s get outta here right now!"

Having stormed up the stairs, he aimed at a wall and let it explode. They hurried through the ruins of the facility and finally managed to get outside it. The cave was also already full with smoke. "Where´s Anise?", Luke asked while running.

"I... I don´t know. I just ran inside the facility, and she...", Florian started but stopped with a loud scream when he saw Anise who lay near the fire, unconscious.

"Argh! Damnit!", Luke cursed, threw the little person over Florian´s shoulders instead, and ran towards Anise who he now threw over his now free shoulders.

"But...! But...!", Florian stammered and looked at the small person with huge eyes, only now having really looked at them.

"C´mon!", Luke called and started running through the cave, Florian following after a few seconds.

About half an hour later - running had made the trip through the cave much shorter - they reached the dock where the cutter was still floating on the water. They jumped inside, lay down their weights, and Luke punched the new course inside the fon navigator so that the cutter would navigate through the illusion wall and further to Engeve.

"Whew! Finally safe!", Luke sighed while Florian was healing Anise.

"Ooooh...", Anise moaned, holding her head, and sat up. "Where...?" But she stopped when she saw Florian. "YOU!!!", she yelled and started to shake him like crazy. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?!" She threw him down to the ground, ripped away his clothes and began to examine every last inch of his body.

"Anise...! Wha-What...?!", Florian stammered, his face now beet-red.

"Turn around!", Anise commanded.

"What?!"

"DO AS I SAY!!!", Anise screached, turned him around and started examining his back. "Good...", she eventually said and dressed him. "No wounds." She looked at the small person and jumped up, screaming. "What the hell...?!"

"What?", Luke who had looked back at the cave this whole time said and now looked at the small person as well. "Holy Yulia...!", he shouted with huge eyes when he saw who ley there on their cutter unconscious: Clothes that resembled a potato sack, long red hair and small, half-opened green eyes were the most obvious trades of the small boy laying on the ground and now slowly regaining consciousness. The name _`Link´_ was written on a little name plate that was attached to his pitiful clothes.

"That´s what I meant! He looks just like you, Luke!", Florian said, now standing again, fully dressed.

"But how...?!", Luke started, confused.

"Is there something you haven´t told us, Luke?", Anise asked, eyebrows raised.

"What?!"

"C´mon, tell us! Who was the lucky lady, huh?", Anise continued questioning.

"Wait a minute! That isn´t my child!", Luke snarled, now finally having realized was Anise was hinting at.

"Noooooo, of course not!", Anise said and rolled her eyes, not believing him.

"That´s not...!"

SPLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A giant water snake shot out of the ocean´s depths in front of the cutter and looked down at the three friends and the child that looked so very much like Luke with avarice, its mouth already watering in hunger.

"Oh my...!", Florian scramed.

"I found you, murderers!", the enraged, shrill voice of a girl could be heard. "You killed mommy! Now you die!!!"


	12. Chapter 12: Arietta Attack!

_**Chapte 12: Arietta Attack!**_

"You killed mommy!", the shrill voice of a girl who had just now climbed out of the mouth of the gigantic water snake, holding a teddy in her hands, screamed. "Now you die!"

"Grrr! A replica of Gloomietta, too!", Anise grumbled, kicked Florian into the cabin and jumped onto the water snake which, of course, tried to to shake her of its body immediately. The little boy with the red hair hid behind the pole.

"Go get Ion! I saw her kicking him into the cabin!", Arietta the Wild ordered a liger which had now jumped out of the see monster´s mouth.

"Stop it, Gloomietta! That´s not Ion!", Anise snarled while running up the long body of the snake.

"Shut up, Anise!", Arietta nagged while the liger jumped down to the cutter.

"_You_ shut up, you stupid brat!", Anise snapped back, reached Arietta and wanted to hit her with her staff. But Arietta just jumped down and was caught by one of snake´s flippers.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!", Luke yelled and slashed with his sword at the liger´s stone-like body. The monster looked just too much like the liger queen of the Cheagle Woods they had once killed.

"Leave mommy´s replica alone!", Arietta screamed and aimed with her ugly teddy at Luke. "Negative Gate!!!" Luke jumped to the side, dodging the ball of First Fonons - the Fonon of Darkness -, und shot Seventh Fonons at Arietta. The water snake turned around so that the Fonons hit its body instead, its body shaking because of the impact.

"Ah! Watch where you´re aiming!", Anise who was still on board the snake screamed at Luke.

"Sorry!", the red head apologized and jumped to the side when the liger queen´s replica tried to eat him alive. "Did Dist replica everyone and everything?!" His eyes widened suddenly when a terrible thought occured to him. "No... He wouldn´t dare to repicate Maste--"

"Luke, look out!!!", Anise yelled and yanked him out of his thoughts with that. Another ball of dark Fonons and the liger queen were shooting towards him. He dodged to the side, and the ball hit the liger queen instead.

"Grrr!", Arietta snarled and dodged another one of Anise´s attacks by letting herself fall down. Another one of the snake´s flippers caught her and put her down on the beast´s head again.

"Sit still, you coward!!!", Anise yelled in anger and started to climb up the monster´s body again.

In the meantime Florian who had crashed into a cup-board which had buried him underneath it had managed to break free, and was now outside again. The liger queen jumped at him immediately, planning to grab him and bring him to its master.

"No, Florian!", Luke shouted. Florian raised his tuning fork-like staff, and a protecting shield was erected immediately from which the liger queen bounced away. Seconds later the shield vanished, Florian, wheezing, beginning to glow, and the liger queen jumped at him again. "Stop!", Luke yelled and ran towards the monster. Florian raised a shaking hand which was now glowing in brillant lights, and then punched the ground with it. A gigantic force field appeared and catched the liger queen whose stone-like body was torched brutally. "Thunder Blade!!!", Luke screamed, and a sword of thunder eliminated the monster.

"Mommy!", Arietta shouted in horror while Florian, now totally exhausted, fainted. "Sink the cutter and get Ion and the research project!", she ordered the water snake. The snake shot, head-first, towards the cutter.

"You wish!", Luke yelled and fired Seventh Fonons at the snake. The monster was thrown back by the attack, and Anise fell down from the snake and could barely manage to cling to the cutter´s bow.

"Didn´t I tell you a few minutes ago: WATCH WHERE YOU´RE AIMING!!!", she yelled and hit Luke´s head.

"Should I rather let her destroy the cutter!?", Luke snapped back. The snake´s vertical fin shot towards the cutter next.

"I´ve had enough of this thing! Make it go away, Luke!", Anise whined.

"Thunder Blade!!!", Luke screamed, and the blade of thunder destroyed the water monster with one strike while Arietta was falling into the sea, screaching, only to reappear seconds later, riding a dolphin.

"You´re going to pay!", Arietta screached while the dolphin escaped with her, doding another thunder blade.

"Phew...", Anise sighed and sank to the ground. "I´d already guessed that they´d created a replica of Gloomietta - the griffin that Natalia´s replica had ridden at Baticul had been proof of it -, but to have to face her... Man..." She looked at Luke who was now wrapping the unconscious Ion into a blanket. "How is he?"

"Only unconscious.", Luke answered and then looked at the little boy hiding behind the pole. "You don´t have to be scared.", he told him. "I won´t bite." The boy didn´t look convinced at all.

"What´s your name, litte one?", Anise asked and kneeled before the boy. "Maybe `Link´, like it´s written on the name plate?" The boy named Link nodded slightly. "Link. That means `The Connection´ in Ancient Ispanian. That´s a nice name." She smiled at him. "I´m Anise."

"I bet _that_ name means `The one who grabs the money´. Would be fitting, at least.", Luke said.

"SILENCE!!! I´LL KILL YOU!!!", Anise yelled at him to which Link fell down in horror. "Oh, I´m sorry, not you! The damn idiot there who fathered you!", she apologized to him.

"I told you before, I´m not his--!", Luke started, enraged.

"He´s not my father.", Link interrupted him.

"See!?", Luke snarled.

"Luke is far too young for a child of that age.", Florian who had regained consciousnsess said. "The little one is at least ten years old. Luke would have been far too young for that, I think."

"I´m not small!", Link grumbled and stood up, making himself as tall as possible. "I´m the research project, damnit! Show me some respect!" Anise and Florian stared at him for a while, having the picture of a younger Luke shouting `I´m the ambassador, damnit!´ in their minds, then looking at Luke.

"What?!", said red head snarled.

"Are you sure that´s not your son?", Anise asked.

"Yes, I´m _damn_ sure!", Luke yelled at her.

Several hours passed in which the cutter floated through the sea, destination Engeve. During these hours the three friends hat managed to convince Link that they wouldn´t harm him, and so they all sat inside the cabin around a fire, their stomachs growling from time to time.

"Is that edible?", Link asked and pointed at the blanket next to him.

"No.", Luke only answered.

"And that?", Link resumed asking and pointed at the bedpost near him.

"No...", Luke grumbled.

"And tha--?"

"NO, DAMNIT!!!", Anise snapped at him. Link´s eyes went huge and he hid behind Luke.

"You don´t have to yell at him. He´s only a child.", Florian gently scolded her while Luke soothingly combed through the little one´s hair.

"Somehow I can understand now what Guy had to suffer through when he had to look after me.", he sighed.

"Good. Then make sure to thank him once he´s safe again.", Anise snarled, the hunger making her grumpy.

Luke only sighed and said: "Good, let´s sum up today: We found this cave in which had been nothing but this replication facility in which we´ve found Link."

"Yah. And if I hadn´t followed you idiots, Legretta would have easily killed you.", Anise grouched.

"Thanks, Anise.", both Luke and Florian thanked her - a futile effort to lighten her mood.

"What actually happened, Luke? You´d already cornered Legretta, and then you suddenly fainted.", Florian said.

"I dunno.", Luke answered. "I suddenly had a headache, and--"

"A headache? Don´t tell me Lorelei contacted you?!", Anise interrupted him.

"No, it didn´t. It...", Luke started, but then stopped. This event with the man and Yulia at the beach had been just too strange. "I just fainted. Probably because of hunger and lack of sleep."

"Men are sooo useless these days!", Anise said and shook her head, having three glares pointed at her which she contered with an even angrier glare, making the other three give up.

"But I´m surprised that I didn´t get hurt because of the fall from the tower.", Luke said.

"I managed to catch you and slow you down with a fonic arte.", Florian explained.

"Thanks."

"Legretta was just about to attack me when Anise reached us and attacked her.", Florian resumed explaining.

"Und then I ordered him to wake you up.", Anise added.

"How did you manage to drive Legretta away?", Florian asked.

"Well, she´s a replica. And replicas consist of Seventh Fonons.", Luke explained. "I just absorbed her body´s Seventh Fonons. She had to run away if she didn´t want to die. Unfortunately, Arietta was to far away for me to attack her the same way."

"Okay, I think I understand everything so far. There´s just one thing left...", Anise said and looked at Link who still hid behind Luke. "Link, how did you end up in this replication facility."

"I dunno.", the little one answered, hesitantly. "I... have always been there."

"What do you mean?", Luke asked.

"I´m there since... since... I dunno know... I´ve always been there."

"Do you mean you´ve been born inside the facility?", Florian asked, confused. Luke nodded, and Anise´s gaze darkened suddenly.

"Why did they lock you up in the cell?", she asked him.

"I dunno.", the little boy answered. "They only told me that I´m the research project, and that I will save the world one day."

"I see.", Anise said, and her fears seemed to be confirmed. She looked at Luke and said: "Luke, could you please help me outside? I think something´s wrong with the fon navigator."

"What? But I already set it t--", Luke started.

"C´mon!", Anise snarled, grabbed one of his ears and dragged him with her. Having reached the fon navigator, she let go of the ear.

"See? Everything´s alright.", Luke said after examining the navigator.

"You´re really dense.", Anise sighed.

"Huh?"

"I just wanted to get you out of the cabin to talk with you without Link listening.", Anise said. "I´m going to inform Florian as well somehow without the little one listening."

"Oh... I see... And what do you want to talk about?", Luke asked.

"He´s a replica.", Anise said straight-out.

"Who?", Luke asked.

"Link. He´s a replica.", Anise answered. "He´s you."

"What?!"

"He´s a replica of Asch, I´m sure of it. He´s about ten years old, and Asch had been replicated when he´d been ten years old. Dist surely still had the replication data. Link is another replica of him. He and you are one and the same person."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out!", Luke stopped her. "Why should he create another replica of Asch?"

"Because of his hyperresonance.", Anise explained. "They want to it. And this talk about Link saving the world some day... Let me tell you one thing: I´m 100 % sure that Dist wants to continue commandant Van´s old plan of a replica world!"

"Master Van´s plan...", Luke repeated and stared at the ground.

"Luke! Stop calling him `Master´ already, damnit!", Anise snapped at him.

"I...", Luke still stared at the ground, then looked up. "If they want to use hyperresonance, why not use a replica of the adult Asch?"

"Because Dist doesn´t have the data of an adult Asch!", Anise snarled. "And don´t try to change the subject!"

"I´m not--"

"Yeah, sure.", Anise interrupted him, rolled her eyes and went back inside the cabin.

Luke stood outside for a while until he, too, finally sighed and went back to the cabin.

_`Master Van... are you alive as well thanks to one of Dist´s replication machines...?´_, was his last thought before he sat next to Link who looked so much like him.

Was Anise right? Had the fight against a replica world started anew? The future will show the answer...


	13. Chapter 13: Visit in Engeve

_**Chapter 13: Visit in Engeve**_

Engeve: A small, contemplativ farming village in Malkuth, amidst sap green meadows. The village´s income came, as you can imagine, from all the crop they produced every year and shipped over the whole world, even to the kingdom of Kimlasca. Especially fat rappigs grunted everywhere, chicken ran, clucking, through the city, and cow and horse mist lay on nearly all streets, making the village not very popular among tourists. The villagers didn´t bother this since they didn´t want overly loud tourists who may destroy their grain fields in their drunk states.

And Luke, Anise, Florian and Link, everyone´s stomachs growling wthout end, reached said town two days later after defeating Arietta. They wandered through the village, Link looking at all the rappigs and chicken with huge eyes.

"Food on feet!", he cheered, drooling, and had to be held back by Luke with all his might so that he didn´t jump at one of the chicken that now ran away in horror.

"You can´t just kill it!", he admonished the child.

"But... But...", Link whined and looked up with puppy dog eyes which made Luke´s heart melt.

"Let´s hurry and buy something to eat before he wreaks havoc upon the whole village!", Anise said after signing about the hundredst autograph for one of the villagers who had recognised her.

"Apples!!!", Link suddenly shouted, stormed towards a cart selling apples, took one apple and wanted to go away.

"Not so fast!", the vendor said, grabbed Link´s collar, raised him up to his face and said angrily: "What do you think you´re doing with my...!?" But he stopped, eyes huge, when he saw Link´s face. "YOU!!!"

"Uh-oh!", Luke who had recognised the vendor as well gasped. Said vendor was looking around at the moment, spotted Luke and threw Link against the red heads chest.

"You again!", the vendor yelled. "First _you_ were trying to steal my apples, now your brat´s doing it! Honestly! That´s really...!"

"Wait, wait wait! That´s _not_ my son!", Luke snapped back while Link tried to break free from Luke´s grasp and kick the back vendor who had grabbed him just now.

"Oh, reeeeeeaaaaally!? He´s got your face, your stupid hair cut and your impudent manor!", the vendor yelled back.

"Hey! My hair cut isn´t stupid!", both Luke and Link screamed in unison and wanted to jump at the vendor.

"Miracle Hammer!!!", Anise snarled in annoyance and punched bothred heads with a hammer of light to the side. "I apologize for everything, sir!" She gave him a few Gald coins.

"Tch! Just take better care of your clan!", the vendor grumbled and turned to return to his shop.

"CLAN!?!", Anise yelled, and her hair suddenly stood up. "That´s _not_ my cl--!"

"Okay, kokay, we should go now!", Florian hurriedly said in a soothing manner and dragged Anise away with all his might, both red heads following.

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After eating inside a restaurant - Link alone had eaten for five people! - they resumed walking towards the mayor´s residence to ask them to deliver enough food to their cutter.

"I hope Rose is still in chare of Engeve. That would make things much easier.", Anise said. Link burped loudly and got whacked by Anise immediately.

"Ow! Hey, I´m the research project, damnit! Show me some respect!", the little boy snapped at her.

"They´re totally identical...", Anise sighed and shook her head, Luke glaring at her.

"I am not! I´m much cuter than that old man there!", Link protested.

"Old!?", Luke snarled.

"Old!", Link said and blew him a raspberry.

"You little...!"

"Quiet! Both of you!", Anise shouted and raised her staff. Luke and Link quietly backed off.

"Wow, Link really learned rule number one quite fast.", Florian said.

"Rule number one?", Anise repeated, confused.

"Never talk back to a bitching Anise."

"MIRACLE HAMMER!!!"

Florian was punched into a tree by the hammer.

"I feel really sorry for the poor Oracle Knights.", Luke said, Link nodding in agreement.

"MIRACLE HAMMER!!!"

Seconds later Luke and Link followed Florian.

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The last time Luke had seen her, Rose had been a burly, older woman with red hair. That was the case this time as well, although this time her once red hair was now slightly grey.

"Luke!", she shouted in her motherly voice when she spotted the red head, and nearly crushed him with a hug. "Fon Master Anise!" Anise was the next one to be crushed, followed by Florian. Finally she turned to Link who looked up at the woman who had, in his opinion, just tried to murder the other three, eyes huge, and backed away from her. "Ooooooooooooh! He´s so cuuuuuuuuuuute!", Rose shouted, thrilled, grabbed the escaping Link and hugged him really hard so that he made contact with her big breasts. "Luke! Tear and you have a realy cute son!" Luke turned as red as the setting sun.

"That´s not my son!", he protested.

"Oh? But he looks just like you, honey.", Rose said and sat down a crushed looking Link who now stared at one corner in shock.

"That´s a... um... long story.", Anise started, trying to change the subject. To explain t her that Luke and Link were really the same person since they were both Asch´s replicas would be a little too much for the older woman. Florian hadn´t taken it that well either when Anise had told him about him. And Link was now present as well, after all.

"So my little emergency call reached Daath?", Rose asked, suddenly businesslike.

"Little emergency call?", Anise repeated in confusion.

"So it didn´t?", Rose said. "Hmm... Yes, that makes sense. They wouldn´t send the Fon Master herself but a few Oracle Knights, after all."

"I´m sorry.", Anise apologized. "I haven´t been in Daath in a while, and I don´t have any means to contact my servants right now..."

"What happened?", Rose asked, only now realizing how dirty and ragged her friends looked.

"Well...", Luke started.

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"I can´t believe it!", Rose snarled after they had told her what had happened. "How dare this disgusting thing!?!", She looked at them worriedly. "Don´t worry! Engeve will immediately initiate nessecary arrangements and strengthen the security around the village as much as possible!"

"Yes, that would be best.", Florian agreed.

"And we will deliver food to the cutter as fast as possible so that Luke can get to Grand Chokmah quickly.", Rose continued.

"Why only Luke?", Anise asked.

"Because Engeve will protect the Fon Master.", Rose explained.

"No way! I´ll be traveling to Engeve as well!", Anise disagreed.

"But...", Rose started.

"No buts!", Anise interrupted her. "Luke will need as much help as he can get. And Emperor Peony will be more likely to believe him if I´m with him.

"Hmm... That may be true.", Rose sighed, still not comfortable about the idea of letting the Fon Master leave. "But perhaps some of my soldiers could..."

"No, Engeve needs every one of those soldiers.", Anise said.

"Yeah, she´s right. I´ll protect her.", Luke said to which Anise stared at him in disbelieve and Luke stuck out his tounge towards her.

"Oh my, young love!", Rose giggled.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!", Luke, Anise and even Florian - he in anger - shouted.

"With all due respect, mayor, I don´t love her!", Luke protested. "I love Tea..." But he stopped just in time.

"Yeah? Yeah? Who? Huh?", Anise asked, not letting it go.

"Nobody!", Luke snarled.

"Oh man! You really are uptight!", Anise sighed. "But I think it´s better this way. Tear´s one of our enemies now, after all." Luke looked to the ground in misery. Anise stared at him for a while in sympathy, then said to Rose: "What´s this problem you were talking about?"

"That´s not important right now.", Rose said.

"Yes, it is.", Luke disagreed. "Everything can be important at the moment. We have an assumption, but we´re not really sure yet what Dist is planning."

"Very well.", Rose said after a few moments. "It´s about the tree in which the Cheagles live."

"What about it?", Florian asked.

"It´s rotting more and more. And we haven´t seen a single Cheagle in days.", Rose explained.

"That doesn´t sound good.", Florian said. "The poor things!"

"Could something poisonous have been mixed with the wastewater which the Cheagle Tree absorbed?", Anise asked.

"No, out of the question.", Rose said and shook her head vehemently. "Engeve doesn´t produce any poisonous substances. We live in harmony with nature."

"That´s strange. If it´s not something poisounous, what else could it be...?", Anise mumbled.

"What´s a cheagle?", Link suddenly asked.

"It´s a really cute, really small creature.", Florian explained.

"`_Annoying´_ is a much better description.", Luke corrected him.

"That´s your, and _only_ your opion.", Anise snapped at him and then said to Rose: "Don´t worry, Rose. We´re going to the Cheagle Woods and look into it."

"But Grand Chokmah...", Rose started.

"As Luke already said, we have to investigate everything that seems strange.", Anise said. "I already made the mistake of not wanting to search through the cave. I won´t make the same mistake again."

"And Grand Chokmah still has Jade as protection.", Florian added.

"Let´s hope you´re right.", Luke said. "He´s been chasing Dist for at leat two months now. It´s questionable if he´s even there right now."

"Anyway, let´s go and investigate in the Cheagle Woods.", Anise said and opened the door. "Don´t worry Rose. We´ll be back in a flash."

"And I will be sending food to the cutter, free charge.", Rose said.

"Thanks.", Anise thanked her and went together with the other three towards the Cheagle Woods.


	14. Chapter 14: Withered Tree

_**Chapter 14: Withered Tree**_

Row on row the giant trees of the Cheagle Woods stood in which one could see animals like deer and rabbits run around every now and then, also the cute, little cheagles with their fluffy fur, the long ears and the puppy dog eyes. But this time, the forst that Luke and his friends entered seemed like it was entirely abandoned. No animal was to be seen, as if all the animals and monsters were scared of something that lurked deeper inside.

"Are we there soon?", Link grumbled for the fourth time.

"No! How often do I have to repeat myself!", Anise snapped.

"I´ve never had to walk that long at home! I wanna go back home!", Link resumed whining.

"Then go! Oh, wait... it´s burnt down!", Anise snarled. Link stuck out his tounge at her.

"I´ve actually never been here so I wouldn´t really know, but it´s awfully quiet in here.", Florian said.

"Yeah, too quiet.", Luke agreed. "I guess they all noticed what happened at the Cheagle Tree..."

"And if they´re hiding because of it, it has to be something really bad.", Anise added.

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"Splendid! Splendid!", Dist cheered inside his pink hell of a room and looked at the amber coloured substance that his God-General replicas were piling in tanks in one of the corners. "Yes, that should be enough to continue with the project." He noticed that the person inside the cage which the small person with her teddy guarded was moving restlessly. "I bet you´re wondering what I´m going to do with all that amber liquid, huh?", he asked the person. "Well, I won´t tell you. Mwahahahahahahahahaha Mwihahiahihahihahiha! I´m sooooo evil!" The person inside the cage wanted to say something, but no noise was to be heard. It seemed the cage had some special power if it could even prevent noise from leaking out. "Well, let´s take a look at how my other project is coming along...", Dist murmured, left the room, wandered down a few hallways and entered a quite dark room in which Kamui, still bruised from all the damage he had taken while trying to escape out of the castle, sat on Natalia´s replica´s lap who he thought was his mother.

"Well, one more time...", the replica said to the child, trying to sound motherly, but her eyes showing her deep hatred for him. "I, Kamui..."

"I, Kamui...", the little boy repeated enthusiastically.

Dist nodded in satisfaction and left the room again in order to gleefully watch his servants work for hours to pile up the substance in his room while he said on his pink canopy and drank litres of Prosecco.

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Having reached the Cheagle Tree, the friends stopped in shock: The once so giant and beautiful tree was withered, no leaves left on it, and a poisonous looking green-dark colour adorned its rootage.

"But how...?", Anise whispered and made a step towards the tree.

"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!", a far too high voice suddenly screamed when in the next moment something small and blue jumped at her and shot fire at her.

"Waaah!!", Anise screached, jumped to the side just in time and grabbed the rather fluffy something that had attacked her.

"You´re back to hurt the tree again, right!?", the little creature in her hands piped and angrily looked up at Anise, ready to strike again.

"Mieu?!", Luke, Anise and Florian shouted in unison as they recognised the blue Cheagle with the sorcerer´s ring around his tummy.

"Mieu?", the cheagle said in confusion and looked from one to the other. "Master!", it suddenly shouted, shot at Luke and rubbed himself against Luke´s cheek in bliss.

"Alright, alright! Stop! Yuck! Stop!", Luke shouted and pulled the little ball of wool out of his face.

"Master! Master! Master!", Mieu happily piped and jumped from one foot to the other.

"Sooo cute!", Anise squealed, seeming to have forgotten that ths `cute´ little creature had just now tried to torch her.

"Is this a cheagle?", Link asked.

"Yes.", Florian answered.

"Looks stupid.", the little red head said. "Strange pointy ears, voice too high-pitched... It´s a thing."

"Yep. I guess we should´ve all expected that commentary.", Anise said and shrugged while shaking her head.

Mieu stared at Link for a while, then suddenly jumped up and down in joy and sang: "Master has a cub!"

"Argh! Shut up, Thing! That´s not my child, damnit!", Luke snapped at him.

"Mieu? Not?", Mieu asked and looked at Link again, tilting his head to the side.

"Mieu, what happened here?", Anise suddenly asked. "Rose told us the tree was withering, but it´s even worse than I thought. " Mieu suddenly grew sad.

"It was them.", he finally said.

"Who?", Florian asked.

"The God-Generals Sync and Largo."

"So there´s a replica of Largo, too?!", Luke shouted angrily.

"And... and Tear was here, too...", Mieu continued and sniffed. "They... They stole the the tree´s nectar of life. We tried to stop them, but they... they killed everyone... Mieu..."

"Oh no!", Florian said in horror.

"And I was knocked out by one of Largo´s attacks, and when I came around, the tree looked already like this... dead..."

"Damn Dist! Why did he do this!?", Anise screamed.

"First the laboratory inside the cave, now this. He must´ve planed this months ago when he was still captured.", Florian guessed and looked at the cheagle tree in which surely all the dead cheagles were now.

An energy blast of gigantic size shot towards them. Luke grabbed Link and Mieu, Anise grabbed Florian, and together they jumped down to the side just in time so that the tree was hit instead.

"Stop!", Mieu screamed in anger and wanted to jump at their attacker, but he stopped when he looked at the evil looking face of Largo the Black Lion - another replica - who had just now entered the clearance.

"Not bad at all.", the giant-like God-General with his even more gigantic scythe said. "You have to options: Hand over Link or die!"


	15. Notice

_**Notice**_

I regret to inform that my brother has stopped writing _Tales of Melody_. As long as he doesn´t continue the story, it makes no sense for me to continue translating it. He may continue it, he may not, I don´t know. If he should do it one day, I will immediately start translating again, of course. ^^


End file.
